4 Ways the TeraTrak R1 Helps DCI Drillers

Time is money, right? We’ve all heard it, but in some cases, like HDD drilling, the phrase is more true than say, for an office worker. Contractors have numerous expenses that can impact the bottom line of their business including labor, gas, and mud - just to name a few. And time spent not drilling costs drillers even more!

So what if there was a tool out there that eliminated a few of these blockers and even helped you get new business?

Introducing, the TeraTrak R1 – now with full bore planning capabilities.

Heard of it? The TeraTrak R1 is a topo-mapping tool that by the end of the year, will be able to transfer a full bore plan onto a remote display, giving the drill rig operator a view of the job site and its infrastructure like never before. It’s simple: someone rolls the job site from entry to exit, entering utilities, clearances, and waypoints along the way, and the TeraTrak R1 produces an achievable bore plan. If the bore plan doesn’t meet the known clearances or performance parameters of HDD tooling, you can adjust the pits or waypoints to find a plan that works.

Let’s explore four ways in which the TeraTrak R1 can have a positive impact on your operation with real-world experiences from current R1 owners.

KISS DOWNTIME GOODBYE

Drilling into pipes. Drastic steering corrections halfway through a bore requiring pull back (see: rock drilling and steep hills). With a bore plan that has clearly marked utilities, clearances, and fits within the capabilities of modern HDD tooling, a driller will be able to avoid many of the common pitfalls that are present on any job site. Throw the bore plan on a rig operator’s remote display, and now the person working the sticks has a clear path from entry to exit.

Trevor Igo of Igo Inc. - Oklahoma:

“Where I work, there are a lot of hills, creek beds...a fair amount of rock. Having the R1 to help me with setback distance and making sure I’m not overbending my rods helps me work faster and safer.”

SAVE MONEY ON TOOLING & GAS

More efficient drilling means less money spent on fuel and overall wear-and-tear across your fleet of equipment. When you’re nailing bore after bore, your rig is burning less fuel, and your tooling is seeing less wear and tear underground.

Tyler Chilian of Glory Utilities LLC – South Carolina:

“There’s a lot of rock drilling in the Carolinas, so anything that helps us bag a rock shot quick and save wear and tear on our stuff, we’re interested in. I saw what the R1 could do on a demo for another company, and I thought to myself, ‘We have to have that.’ The R1 paid for itself on the first shot we used it because of the money saved on mud and gas alone.”

WIN MORE JOBS

Bid better. But How? The TeraTrak R1 allows its owners to bid confidently because there’s no guesswork involved – it will always produce a proper, achievable bore plan, in a professional manner, that is easy for you, the customer, and any engineers involved with the job to understand.

Tanner Betts of Total Boring LLC - Oklahoma

“We don’t use it on every shot we do, but because we have it, we can do the 5% of jobs that others can’t. We recently won a bid that had over 140 bores. There were only a handful of bores on that job that were tough, but because we had the R1, we knew we could do them, and more importantly prove it to the customer.”

BUILD YOUR REPUTATION

The best work is work you don’t have to bid for – it just comes to you. Having an R1 doesn’t just mean you have a tool to increase your efficiency and safety when drilling - but also a tool that increases your reputation. Working efficiently along with producing professional documents that customers and engineers appreciate goes a long way in earning repeat business.

Aaron Graff of Dakota Utility Contractors LLC – Texas:

“People have known for a while now that we have the R1, and it certainly helps us get business because customers know that we’ll be able to provide them easy-to-understand bore plans that they can then share with stakeholders for quick approvals.”

Do any of these scenarios sound like something you deal with on your job sites or with customers? Contact your local DCI dealer or Territory Manager to demo the R1 and see how it can help you build your business.